Tuesday, December 29, 2009

The Tea Party Express non-scandal

Zachary Roth of liberal TPM tries to make the relationship between the Tea Party Express and its organizers look sleazy:
The political action committee behind the Tea Party Express (TPE) -- which already has been slammed as inauthentic and corporate-controlled by rival factions in the Tea Party movement -- directed almost two thirds of its spending during a recent reporting period back to the Republican consulting firm that created the PAC in the first place.
Our Country Deserves Better (OCDB) spent around $1.33 million from July through November, according to FEC filings examined by TPMmuckraker. Of that sum, a total of $857,122 went to Sacramento-based GOP political consulting firm Russo, Marsh, and Associates, or people associated with it. . . .
Well, duh. All this means is that the consulting firm used its own personnel, and paid the bills, to organize the Tea Party Express tour -- which, BTW, was a huge success. The people who worked on the tour got a paycheck from Russo Marsh, which functioned somewhat in the same role that the promoter of a rock-music concert tour would do.

There is no scandal here. No crime is alleged, and there is nothing fraudulent or shady involved. TPM is being disingenuous to insinuate otherwise.

5 comments:

  1. I suppose they should have used David Axelrods consulting firm instead? More liberal madness.

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  2. What's great about this sort of thing is that it shows, in stark black and white, how the left is, quite literally, whistling past the graveyard.

    I say let them have their fun--it's only going to burn that much more come November when they get clobbered and console themselves with 'butbutbut, the Tea Party movement wasn't genuine, how did this happen?!'

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  3. I'm wondering if there was ever a time when TPM wasn't being disingenuous about, well, just about anything.

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  4. Why do you insist on pretending no crime occurred when clearly the organizers made profits? Have you no shame?

    Profits are evil.

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  5. I think what you have missed here, is those participating in the Tea Party Movement DO NOT WANT any connection with consulting firms of any stripe. I have been a memeber since the beginning, and the majority of members did not want to have a board, a president, or endorsements paid by an firm of any kind. Unfortunately, people who got to the stops of the Tea Party Express DID NOT know it was being backed by Russo, et al...and people donating to the Tea Party Express thought they were donating to the Tea Party Movement, not some consulting firm. Russo being connected to Reagan doesn't fly with TP members.

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